Seeking an answer to the question of mass shootings

JoAnne Allen hugs her son, Alex Allen, 17, after a school shooting on December 13, 2013 at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colo. Two students were injured by a lone gunman, who later died of a self-inflicted gun shot wound.

(CBS News) In the days after Newtown, many people said, "If the cold blooded murders of 20 first-graders and six of their
teachers is not enough to make it harder for the mentally ill to get guns, then
what is?"

A year and a day
later, I have no answer to that question.

All I know is what
has happened since Newtown.

Since then, nearly
200 children have been killed by gunfire.

Since Newtown, there
have been 28 school shootings on U.S. schoolgrounds during school hours -- that's
one almost every other week -- and they have taken the lives of 17
children.

In Colorado, a
17-year-old girl injured in Friday's shooting remains in critical condition.

Since Newtown, 112
people have died in what the FBI calls mass shootings -- incidents that took
the lives of at least four people. Some of those victims died at the Navy Yard
in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol.

For all the talk and
good intentions, the deranged are still finding the powerful weapons they need to carry
out their deadly plans.

After the Navy Yard
shooting, the President said, "Once more our hearts are broken. Once more
we ask, why?"

But in our heart of
hearts, don't we know why? It's not an easy question, because if we admit we do
know, then good conscience forces us to do something about it.